Tilting device for cutter bars of mowing machines



' Feb. 14, 1928. 1,658,999

c. PEARSON TILTING DEVICE FOR CUTTER BARS OF MOWING MACHINES Filed Oct.31, 1923' I men/@071 Patented Feb. 14, 1928.

CHARLES .PEABSON, or CHICAGO, LLINoIs AssIeNon mo -I1-I'IEnnA'rIoNAI;;HAB

vnsrnn COMPANY, orcnIoaco, ILLINOIS, A oonrolmnon or NEwJEnsEY.

TILTING DEVICE FOR CUTTER BARS .or.:mowING .mofimEs Application filedOctobeI-BI, 1923. Serial n; 071,868.

' The present invention relates to mowing machines and, moreparticularly, to animproved-means forpermitting a rocking or tiltingmovement of the cutter bars of such machines.

In the operation of mower, it 'is essential that-the cutter bar thereofbe tiltable or 'rookable," so that it-mayride over. stones and otherslight obstructions in the: field l0 without-causing injury to thecutting knives. It -is appreciated that such means is well known and in'use, but most of them are manually operableand Y depend entirely uponthe alertness of the operator, who-must pull a 1ever or the like to tiltor rock-the cutter bar, should he'see an obstruction. i

Thus,-the princi-pal Objects 'of thisinvention are: first, to provide atilting-1necha= nism for thecutting bar of a*mower, whichis automatic inoperationand-entirely-lndependent of the operator of the machine;second, to provide a mechanismwhich will permit automatic tilting andwhich-maybe adjusted. or regulated to control the extent of such rockingortilting movement of the cutter:bar; and thirdg torprovide an automatic'tiltingdevice of simple and rugged construction, readily adapted to useI in v conventional. mowers. A} Other i objects will' be apparent tothose-skilled in the art'to which this invention appertains, as thedescription thereof progresses. ..In the accompanying sheet of drawingsforming apart ofithis application:

5 Fig.1 is a plan view Sofa mower; frame and a. cutter bar attachedthereto in association with the improvedtilting mechanism; Fig. 2 is a.similar view showingsthe same structure viewedfrom the rear; p 0 Fig. 3isi'an endelevational' views: taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 lookingin the.

directionofzthe arrows.

l .The preferable embodiment of this inven tion is disclosed inconnection :with aconven-v 5 tional mower: having acoupling armimem-'ber 10 and a bifurcated coupling :yokemember 11 rockably mounted on thegrassward end thereof.; Pivoted to the grassward end 7 of this couplingyokeby means. of pinst-12 means of a pitman 17'operatively connect= edthereto'bynaeans of'knife-head 18.

In the operation of mowing machines "of i this type in the field, it isnecessary that the cutter bar be tiltable or rockable, soithat' it mayride over small" obstructions, as here toforerstated. It is also highly:desirable thatsuch means be automatic and entirely Independent of" the;operator of I the machine. To accomplish this the following1nechanism,to be now described", has been provided. i

1 The coupling yoke I 11 carries an integral upstanding"supportingmember 19. f Adacent the upper" end of this: supporting member and onthe stubbleward side there? the pin 21 journaledinthe bracket'QO; The 1coupling yoke member 11 ma thus rock relatlvel y totheframe pipe 10because the'arm 19 and thepin 21carried thereby may freely sllderelative to the s'upport 25 because the pin-21 is loose in 'the eye ontheupper end of the support25.

Ijrom the above description, it will be quite apparentthat, 1 should-tha-guard fingers 16"ofthemutter-banstrike a small abstruction, such asa stone or the like, in

the field the :cutter bar will ride'over-j-the same by tilting orrocking upwardly, and;

as .thecutter'bar is-supported'by the rookable c0upling1 yoke memberllcarrying the bracket 20, thisI-motion willkmove the same longitudinallyof 'the relatively stationary member- 25ucarried by the frame-10.2 i Ofcourse, as soon 'as =t-he obstruction has-been passed, theweight ofthebar will= return'it to normal ground engaging position; as the looseconnection just described Will readily permit such movement.

extent: of throw or rocking movement "of i the p we It may be desirableat'timesto regulate the y cutter bar, :and, or1this purpose, it willwbe3 noted that the threaded pin 2-1 carries a staheldin such positionbymeansof the statlonary nut ust described and the frame member 25 whichabuts ,thereagainst. At

times, obstructions will be encountered which will be too large for thetilting mechanism just described, and it may be necessary to ,liftfltheentire cutter bar to plain lift position; For this purpose, there 18provided a pair of straps or link members 27 pivoted at their lower endsto the shoe 13. At theupper ends of thesexstraps and between the same isfixed a pull hook 28 having operative connection, by means of a link 29,to a lever, not shown, adjacent the seat oftheoperator, V The operatormay thus pull the lever, and, through the connections described, raisethe cutter bar about the pivots 1-2 and 12' to plain lift position. i

, It will be observed fromFig, ,8, as shown in dottedilines, that the"extent of automatic tilt of which this device is capable is quiteconsiderable, It will further be observed that the deviceis simple,having but few parts, and is well adapted to the purpose for which itisintencled. V

lVhile I have shown the preferred form of theinventiomit is to beunderstood that various change in construction and arrangement of partsmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from theinvention, as hereafter claimed.

What I claim is: 1. In a mowing machine vhaving a coupling arm,acoupling yokerockably mountedon said a'rm, a cutter bar pivoted to theyoke, and cooperating means carried entirely on said arm and yoke forpermitting an v automatic tilt of said cutter bar.

i tilt of said cutter bar, 1

s 2. In a mowing machine having a coupling arm, a coupling yoke rockablymounted onsaid arm, a cutter bar pivoted tothe yoke, and cooperatingmeans carried ens tirely on said arm and yoke to permit an automatictilt of. said cutter bar,said means including an adjustable member forlimiting the amount of tilt of said bar.

3,-lna mowing machine having a coupling arm, a coupling yoke rockablymounted onsaid arm, a cutter bar pivoted to said yoke, means permittingautomatic tilting of said bar, and means carried on the yoke fortiltingthe yoke independently of the arm to regulate and control the.amount of .4. In a mowing 'i'nachine having a cou on, a cutter barconnected to the yoke, and cooperating mechanism carried entirely on thearm and yoke including an adjustable threaded member for permitting anautomatic limited tilting action of the cutter bar. 5. In a mowingmachine, a coupling arm, a coupling yoke rockably mounted thereon, acutter bar pivoted to the coupling yoke, a member pivotally mounted onthe arm,

7 said coupling yoke carrying means slidably engaging said pivotedmember to permit a tilting movement of the cutter bar and coupling yokerelative to the pivoted member. 6. In a mowing machine, a coupling arm,a coupling yoke rockably mounted on said arm a cutter bar connected tothe yoke, and relatively. slidable cooperating means carried entirely onsaid yoke and arm for permitting an automatic tilting action of thecutter bar.

V. 7. In a mowing machine, a coupling arm, acoupling yoke rockablymounted on said ar1n,'a cutter bar connected to the yoke, and relativelyslidably cooperating means carried entirely on said yoke and arm forperinitting an automatic tilting action of the a coupling yoke rockablymounted thereon,

a cutter bar connected to the yoke, a bracket carried on an upstandingarm on the yoke, and cooperable means 'on said warm and bracket topermit automatic tilting of said cutter, bar.-

9. In a mowing machine, acoupling arm, a coupling yokerockably'mounte'dthereon, a cutter bar pivoted to the coupling yoke, a bracket carried bythe coupling yoke, a pin journaled in the bracket, and means carriedby-the arm and engaging the pin for permitting automatic tilting of saidcutter bar.

10; In a mowing machine, a coupling arm, a coupling yoke rockablymounted thereon, a cutter bar pivoted to the coupling yoke, a bracketcarried by the coupling yoke, apin ]ournaled in the bracket, anda'support pivoted at one end to the arm and having an eye at its otherend through which the pin may slide for permitting tilting of saidcutter bar. 4 I

11. In a mowing machine, a coupling arm, a coupling yoke rockablymounted thereon, a cutter bar pivoted to the coupling yoke,

a bracket pivoted to the couplingyoke, a pin, I

carried'in the bracket, a support onthe arm and having an eye at one endthrough which the pin may slide. to permit rocking of the yoke and bar,and means for regulating the rocking movement of. the coupling yoke andcutter bar. I

12.- In a mowing machine, a coupling arm, a coupling yoke rockablymounted thereon, a cutterbar pivoted to the coupling yoke, a

amount of rocking movement of the coupling yoke and cutter baruponrotation of the pin. c

13. In a mowing machine, a coupling arm,

afoutterbar pivoted to the coupling yoke,.

.and mechanism including a crank carried on the couphng member and'slidably mounted 15 relative to the arm for controlling and permittinga tilting movement ofthe cutter bar.

In testimony whereof I tafiix my signature.

CHARLES PEARSON.

a coupling yoke rockably mountedthereon,"

